Why Are 1 Of 8 Girls Pregnant At Robeson High?

collegeinusa · 10-16-2009, 09:42 AM

Taxpayers be ready to pay for it. Why Acorn is not working with these kids to teach responsibility. Where were our president and first lady not focuing on issues like these when they were in Chicago to teach these kids responsibility.

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It is a Chicago public school full of energy and spirit. It has about 800 girls, and 115 of them have something in common – something you might find disturbing.

All those young ladies are moms or moms-to-be at Paul Robeson High School. It's not a school for young mothers, it's a neighborhood school. And all of the pregnancies have happened, despite prevention talk.

If you want to know why, the people closest to the situation say there's no simple explanation.

Chicago Public Schools says it does not track the overall number of teen moms in the district. But Robeson Principal Gerald Morrow knows the count at his school in Englewood: 115 young ladies who are expecting.

To put it in perspective, their school pictures would fill roughly six pages of their high school year book.

Why is it happening at Robeson?

"It can be a lot of things that are happening in the home or not happening in the home, if you will," Morrow said. Absentee fathers are another factor, he said.

LaDonna Denson and two other Robeson students say parents not talking to teens and, in some cases, the pursuit of public assistance also factor into the pregnancies. None of them thought they'd be moms at such a young age.

They said they have support at home. But not all girls do, they said. In fact, some girls get thrown out of the home.

Not on Morrow's turf. "We're not looking at them like 'Ooh you made a mistake,'" he said. "We're looking at how we can get them to the next phase, how can we still get them thinking about graduation?"

So there's help in a teen parent program. And coming soon, right across from Robeson, developers are turning a one-time crack house into a day care for student use. "We have to provide some type of environment for them and some form of support for them," Van Vincent, CEO of VLV Development, said.

It's all made an impression.

"Just cause you have a baby, that doesn't mean your life is over," one student said.

One thing they might not know about their principal: His mom had him when she was 15. That's why accepting the problem -- and working through it -- is so important to him.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Robeson...2.1251642.html

bulletandpima · 10-16-2009, 09:44 AM

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"Just cause you have a baby, that doesn't mean your life is over," one student said.

NO it's not over, but I can't wait to see how they feel when they can't go to a movie on Friday night or not fit into their low rise jeans. Or even the fact that no 18 yo will want an instant family, but see her as an easy chance to get some!

collegeinusa · 10-16-2009, 09:49 AM

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How can we still get them thinking about graduation?"

What they will do after graduation? Who will take care of these baby while mom works? When these baby grow up the morality will not be taught, the baby girl get pregnant or baby boys as a grown up kid will make other kids pregnant?

And we call all this audacity of hope? Where is the hope for these girls with no judement or moral resposnibility for their actions.

bulletandpima · 10-16-2009, 10:11 AM

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Who will take care of these baby while mom works?

Sorry, but my first thought was, huh? They are not going to work their job will be to cash their welfare check!

mommusic · 10-16-2009, 10:14 AM

In other news, Lil' Wayne has 3 different women pregnant at the same time!

FallGirl · 10-16-2009, 10:25 AM

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Where is the hope for these girls with no judement or moral resposnibility for their actions.

And in the interest of fairness, what about the males with no judgement or moral responsibility for their actions?

Very sad situation, but it does take"two to tango".

poetgrl · 10-16-2009, 10:35 AM

Well, at least the principle is trying to be a part of the solution and to offer these girls alternatives and the possibility of a continuing education. I don't know what else he can do, really. I guess the objective is to get them to the point where they are self-supporting, which is why I have never understood the unavailability of daycare for the use of single moms. It's a shame, though. You just know most of these girls are in the system forever, now. Sad.

As for the 'two to tango' concept....while I am a feminist, I have to say that both of my daughters were taught that that was just wishful thinking and that any woman who believes she will be able to "force" a male to parent is not living in reality. I don't care what they say, I told them, YOU will be responsible, so BE responsible.

collegeinusa · 10-16-2009, 10:38 AM

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baby boys as a grown up kid will make other kids pregnant?

Yes I agree that the boys are equally responsibe. But ultimately boys never take ownership and abandon these grils and the kids.

Since I am not a politicain I can say this "Unless funding for rasing these kids will be cut, this cycle will keep repeting" Since it is other people money (OPM), politicains will fund the habits of these kind of parents and their kids by milking taxpayers.

Unfortunately these poor boys and girls pay a very heavy price in not utilizing their brains and intellectual capacity to the full extent and depends on other's charities for survival. They never become the indepndednt person who can achieve personal suceess like the current president and the current first lady.

I thought the current president will influence these poor kids life, but looks like another politican who will say anything to get elceted.

dadx · 10-16-2009, 10:45 AM

This reminds me of a similar discussion years ago when Newt Gingrich was castigated by some activist who told him he was a jerk for wanting to further penalize the girls for irresponsible behaviour. He had a pointed reply, which was that he didn't want to penalize it, but he certainly didn't want to reward it either. That issue is the great conundrum in all these social problems.

Naturally · 10-16-2009, 10:51 AM

Examining this school and this area and trying to determine why this is happening is more productive than waving a finger and saying, "Fie, you strumpet!" Teenagers get pregnant--it has always happened and always will. The height of teen pregnancies in the US was in the 1940s, nationally they have dropped since then. The question is why does THIS high school have such a high rate of pregnancy? Is that typical for this geographic area or is it something about this school's students in particular? 1 in 8 is a lot. Some girls genuinely think that if they get pregnant, the kid who impregnated them will "do the right thing" and marry them. If that's the case here, maybe the sex ed curriculum needs to be updated to make it clear that often (I would go so far as to say usually) doesn't happen.

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I thought the current president will influence these poor kids life, but looks like another politican who will say anything to get elceted.

What exactly are you expecting the president to do? Visit the high school and personally lock chastity belts on all the kids? Has he been airing ads that say, "Hey teenagers, getting pregnant is a GREAT IDEA!" while I wasn't looking?

razorsharp · 10-16-2009, 10:56 AM

Having an out of wedlock birth no longer carries a stigma in lower economic classes.

Most of these girls have essentially guaranteed themselves a life of poverty by having out of wedlock children.

poetgrl · 10-16-2009, 11:02 AM

razorsharp-- I fear you are correct. This is why I feel, fine, have sex ed, have girls separated from the boys and have them tell it like it is. The girls are always left holding the consequences, but it isn't "politically correct" to say this. As for Newt Gingrich. pssshaw! Total Jerk. I wonder if he wants to penalize men who cheat on thier wives while they are in the hospital with a terminal illness. Let's just leave him out of it. Please.

poetgrl · 10-16-2009, 11:04 AM

Please let me apologize. This thread came up on the front of the site for me, but I didn't realize it wasn't in the politics forum. Sorry.

Puzzled88 · 10-16-2009, 11:09 AM

"Having an out of wedlock birth no longer carries a stigma in lower economic classes."

Or in the entertainment world...talk about role models!

nysmile · 10-16-2009, 11:23 AM

There are so many different things going on that contribute to this situation that addressing one of them does little to prevent the situation of continuing--Family dynamics, lack of supervision, little regard for consequences, no discipline, failure to take personal responsibility, few positive direct role models in their lives, no standards set by parents, repeating of the same patterns of multiple births by different fathers, welfare, lack of self-worth, no direction or ambition or drive to do better than the previous generation, etc.

There is plenty of blame to go around regarding this issue. Unfortunately, most of these families seem to place more of the blame on others while failing to accept their own personal responsibility in getting themselves in this situation. They would rather blame the school system, blame their peers or blame the government rather than accept the notion that they and their family unit have failed to teach, model, and live by certain core set of values and goals. Change will come when families begin to act like families rather than act like completely random strangers living under one roof.